Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease characterized by joint pain and stiffness, which predisposes to the elderly. The onset of OA is slow, the course of disease is long, and the early clinical manifestations and histological changes are not obvious, which limits the early diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The micro-structure of articular cartilage determines the macro-mechanical properties of cartilage. The micro-structure of articular cartilage changes in a depth-dependent manner, which makes the mechanical properties of cartilage also depth-dependent. From superficial to deep areas of cartilage, the anti-load and anti-deformation ability of cartilage increases gradually. However, with development of the disease, the change of cartilage micro-structure leads to the decrease in load resistance and deformation resistance of OA cartilage. Therefore, the mechanical properties of articular cartilage can be inferred by detecting the micro-structure of articular cartilage. On the other hand, the mechanical properties of articular cartilage can be used to understand the micro-changes of cartilage, which is helpful to understand OA development and facilitate early diagnosis of the disease. This paper reviewed the recent research literatures on mechanical properties of articular cartilage under normal and acute or chronic injuries, and elaborated the relationship between the structure and mechanical properties of articular cartilage, which further provided the theoretical basis for the OA development, early diagnosis and treatment.